She's the Princess to Her Fairytale Dress
by writes.about.the.wives
Summary: "It becomes a thing, just Hanna and Aria, dreaming up fashion designs...When they watch Project Runway together – or Mean Girls, or Pitch Perfect, or any other chick flick they have a secret, almost stereotypical weakness for – Aria will lean into Hanna's side, and she'll let Hanna have all the popcorn." Haria two-shot (Hanna x Aria).
1. a prototype of something like love

**A/N #1: For the sake of this story, everything is canon up to the season five midseason finale. So everything in the promos for the Christmas episode never happened.**

* * *

><p>"I'm all for a good bang, but lunchtime? Lunchtime is sacred! You'd have to be really special to get me to swallow anything less than a sandwich in the middle of the day. Know what I mean?"<p>

Emily grimaces. "Trying to eat, Hanna," she protests, while Spencer only shakes her head.

See, Aria's been sneaking around for the past few days and it's driving Hanna crazy.

At first she thought Aria was avoiding her, although she had no reason to. But Spencer was just as clueless as to the petite girl's whereabouts. Emily hadn't seen her around either, and could only offer a promise to keep an eye out for her. "She's probably at Ezra's," Emily had added.

And at that Hanna had released her less than tasteful outburst.

As Emily and Spencer start a discussion about winter sports, Hanna takes action herself.

At 11:01 AM - Hanna: Hey. Missing you at lunch. Again. I need my Aria time D:

At 11:02 AM - Aria: Sorry, Han. I just really have to get this special project done! Don't you dare try and follow me. It's supposed to be a surprise.

At 11:02 AM - Aria: But for the record, I miss you too, goofball. :) Can't wait to finish this and catch up with you!

Unbidden, a goofy and entirely unnecessary grin springs to Hanna's face. Spencer looks over. "It's rude to sext Caleb at the table, Hanna." The jest isn't of her usual Hastings highbrow caliber, but Spencer laughs at her joke anyways.

Hanna frowns at his name and flips her off before returning her attention to her phone. She feels a hand on her shoulder a few seconds later. It's cool but comforting, and that's how Hanna knows it's Emily's. Emily's super chill attitude seems to run on a frigid stock of pool water – she does get awfully cranky when a week goes by without any natatorium time.

"We haven't seen Caleb around lately, and whenever we bring him up it's like we've summoned the devil. Trouble in paradise?" Emily asks softly.

Hanna's mouth twists with her exhale. "Kind of. I'll tell you when we figure things out." Emily nods, hand slipping back to her lunch tray. She's content to leave the matter at that. Spencer, however, looks like she wants to inquire further, but Hanna rises, bag in hand, just as the braniac opens her mouth.

"I, uh, have to go take care of something. I'll see you guys later, ok? Don't get killed in my absence."

"Where are you going?" Spencer calls. "You hardly ate anything." It was true – Hanna had eaten about four tater tots and downed half of her soda before abandoning her lunch. "That's like me only drinking half my coffee."

Hanna just waves her off.

* * *

><p>Hanna finds Aria in the very back of the library with seven minutes left of lunch to spare. She wastes half of them just watching from behind a bookshelf.<p>

Aria alternates between scribbling feverishly into a sketchpad and typing and clicking around on her laptop. None of the details are visible from where Hanna's standing, but she can tell whatever she's working has got Aria emotionally rooted, as she sighs, bites her lip, stares intently at the laptop, erases on the sketchpad with a soft swear, or very rarely nods to herself quietly and relaxes her frown.

Hanna's almost miffed – there's something intensely calming about the intensity of Aria's work and concentration, an admirable passion that drives Hanna to almost jealousy. Why hasn't she ever gotten to see Aria like this? She continues to look on curiously as Aria pauses to pick up her phone and tap out a brief text. Who's the lucky recipient? Ezra?

Aria's already picked up her pencil again when the phone in Hanna's hand pings. Loudly.

Hanna looks down.

At 11:14 AM - Aria - I'm kind of in the mood for Mean Girls tonight. Yay or nay? I know you're the only one who'll watch it with me…

Damn it. So that's who Aria had been texting.

Aria looks up curiously at the familiar ringtone. Alarmed and very visible, Hanna tries to duck but ends up hitting her head on the shelf on the way down and dislodging a precariously placed book. It splays its pages as it hits the floor. "Damn it!" Hanna says aloud.

"Hanna?!" Aria hisses, scandalized, as she recognizes her voice. She hurriedly shuts the laptop and sketchpad, throwing both of them into her tote bag before rushing to Hanna's side. "What are you doing here?!"

Hanna releases an exaggerated groan, feeling her forehead. She squints around at her surroundings for an excuse. "Oh, you know. Just…just doing some reading," she says, gesturing to the fallen book. "I didn't even see you here. How's it going?"

Aria picks up the book in question. "It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living. Dan Savage and Terry Miller." The look on Aria's face softens. "Hanna, if this is your way of telling me – "

"No!" Hanna laughs. "That subtle stuff is something Spencer would do or Emily would get caught doing. If I came out, you'd definitely know for sure. I'd throw a party so fantastic that Ellen would feature it on her show," Hanna says, grinning as she catches the edge of an old memory. "I offered to throw one for Emily awhile ago, but for some reason she wanted to keep it quiet. Which I totally understand and respect, but I was kind of bummed at the missed opportunity, you know?"

"Hanna, honey, you're rambling," Aria says. She's waited for Hanna to catch a breath and has already put the book back into place and helped the blonde up. "How long were you standing there?"

"I wasn't!" Hanna protests, keeping a straight face for all of three seconds before dropping her eyes. "Fine. But you have an awful sixth sense. I'm surprised you're still alive even with A trying to kill us all."

"Hanna…"

"Not too long, and I didn't see whatever it was you were working on, god," Hanna says, holding her hands up in surrender. "Are you drawing nudes for Ezra?"

Aria swats her arm. "Hanna! Who does that?"

"Well I figured that if you're spending all your free time hiding this thing from your friends, it's got to be either really _saucy_…or really important." Hanna fails to withhold her bitterness with that last addendum.

"Is this the part where I assure you that nothing is more important than my friendship with you guys?" Aria smirks knowingly. "I'm almost done with it. Trust me. And when it's done I'll let you know what I've been working on and I'll quit sneaking around. As long as you quit following me…"

"Fine. I won't. And you'd better hold up your end of that promise, because you know I love Em and Spence, but it's been five days without you and now they won't quit talking about sports and math class and god knows what," Hanna complains.

"And I bet they won't even watch Mean Girls with you?"

"Yeah, Ar, it's terrible. We've got to fix that. Tonight."

"Tonight it is."

* * *

><p>As soon as the clock hits 12:00 two new messages spring to life on Hanna's phone.<p>

At 12:00 AM - Spencer: Happy birthday! May your day be filled with jubilation ;) and your year with other assorted SAT words.

At 12:00 AM - Emily: Hope my favorite blonde's already having the best day ever! I know it's just barely started, but a lot can happen in thirty seconds! XX

Hanna chuckles, firing off replies to two of her best friends. But why there isn't a third message? The four girls have always sent birthday messages at midnight. It's tradition. Is Aria too busy with Ezra to text Hanna on what's clearly the most important day of the year? Hanna scowls to herself, mind swamped with unhappy thoughts. So far it's not shaping up to be the best birthday ever – something Aria had promised her it would be. Liar…

Hanna's phone lights up again with a notification, and she almost snaps her neck in her rush to check it.

At 12:03 AM – Aria: For the love of Louboutin, Hanna, are you going to open your window or not?!

Hanna blinks down at the message, processing it for a good ten seconds, before sliding off her headphones, gripping her phone tightly, and tiptoeing to the window. She hears a very subtle clinking sound, opens the curtain a sliver, and sees Aria. Washed in moonlight and holding a dwindling pile of pebbles in her left hand, the brunette carelessly tosses a pebble against the glass without looking. The pebble happens to land right just where Hanna's eye is resting, causing the blonde to yelp, flinch away, and trip over herself.

Once she's collected herself she yanks the curtains open. Aria stops her pebble throwing to grin up at her, mouthing 'Finally!'

Hanna gestures her over to the front and she slinks downstairs to let Aria in as quietly as possible. They barely dare to breathe until they're both safely situated in Hanna's room, and even then they keep their movements subdued and their voices quiet. It's not the first time Hanna's had friends over without her mom's explicit permission (Caleb, unfortunately, comes to mind) so they know to be quiet.

"You could have texted, like a normal person," Hanna starts off immediately. Aria makes a face.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to be different, but at the same time I didn't want to wake up your mom. Special gesture for a special girl! But _someone_ didn't want to open her window."

Hanna gestures to her headphones. "I'll try to hold off on the music next year. How long were you waiting? Are you cold? You're shivering," Hanna notes, an edge of alarm in her voice as she hugs Aria to her, chin resting on the shorter girl's shoulder. Hanna rubs her arms in an attempt to flatten the raised bumps. Inexplicably, where Aria had only been slightly trembling before, a warm, full blown shiver shakes her now. The brunette remains leaned into Hanna, distracted by the scent of citrusy sweetness in Hanna's hair, before pulling away with a breath, remembering that Hanna had asked her a question.

"I started throwing pebbles at midnight. Not too long. And it's ok, because I wanted to be the first one to give you a present." Aria says, reaching down for the tote she's dropped at the foot of Hanna's bed. She already can't help but smile.

"I think I'm more excited about this gift than you are, so don't do that 'let me preserve the wrapping paper and spend half an hour opening the present thing' that Spencer does sometimes. Please. And it wouldn't hurt if you at least pretended to like it?" Aria says hopefully.

Curiosity baited, Hanna accepts the gift with a thanks. It's a parcel the size of a textbook, wrapped in shiny red paper and not very heavy. She shakes it twice, but it doesn't make a sound.

"Hanna!" Aria nudges, her elbow knocking into Hanna's.

"Fine, fine." The package doesn't last long after that. Hanna lifts the presents out of the box, shaking them out and testing their texture.

"Aria, they're beautiful," she squeals. It's two dresses packaged into one box. The first is a simple, silky red dress that Hanna can already tell will fit her body in a way that accents all of her curves – far from being too revealing while still winking at its viewers, hinting at the attributes behind the fabric. The second is a little more intricate, an indigo dress with black shoulders and black chevron waist and carefully placed black stripes diagonal down the bottom half of the dress. She's already working through different outfits she can form, the jewelry and belts and shoes and purses to go with them.

"They're perfect, thank you," Hanna says after giving them a thorough examination, holding them to her chest and standing before her mirror, before dropping them to give Aria an excited kiss on the cheek. It's still branded into Aria's cheek in the form of a blush when Hanna withdraws. "I don't recognize the designer, though, and there wasn't a tag. Who's it by?"

"Me," Aria grins. Hanna looks comically stunned, eyes darting to Aria's and then to the dresses strewn over the bed. "YOU made these?"

"I took a few classes over the summer and I'm still taking them now. Plus, I know a lot of people who offered a _lot _of help. It took a month of sleepless nights and sneaking around, but I got it done," Aria replies, almost shyly and definitely modestly.

"That's amazing! You're like a child prototype!"

"Prodigy," Aria corrects with an affectionate smile. "I'm not, but thanks for the compliment."

Hanna scowls for all of two seconds before breaking into a grin again. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Just wanted to make you smile on your birthday. It worked, didn't it?" Hanna rewards her with a sparkling beam.

"It did. God, I love you. Best present ever," Hanna says, wrapping Aria in another hug that would surely knock her off her feet had they not both been sitting. As it is, the moment still leaves Aria breathless.

* * *

><p>Two months afterward, things have become pleasantly different. It becomes a thing, just Hanna and Aria, dreaming up fashion designs. They'll sit together on Aria's bed, drawing silently, occasionally asking for criticism or peeking at each others' designs and pointing out a flaw or particularly brilliant bit. Sometimes Hanna ends up flipping through magazines for inspiration, holding the magazine above her head as she rests in Aria's lap, hair tickling the brunette's thighs. When they watch Project Runway together – or Mean Girls, or Pitch Perfect, or any other chick flick they have a secret, almost stereotypical weakness for – Aria will lean into Hanna's side, and she'll let Hanna have all the popcorn.<p>

One Thursday evening Hanna shows up uninvited at Aria's door (although is it fair to call it uninvited when they spend almost every day at each other's houses?). "I've had a crappy day," she groans. "I need a cuddle buddy and a late night movie marathon, stat."

Aria hedges. Usually she'd drop everything for a friend in need, but two enormous essays are sitting at the back of her mind, wheedling her for attention. "Han, don't you have homework to do? And we have school tomorrow," Aria points out.

"Aria…" Hanna whines. "Last time I checked, _I _wasn't the one asking my _teacher _to cuddle. Don't start nagging me about my education. I think you've been spending too much time with Ezra."

Aria huffs, considering closing the door in Hanna's face, but the blonde's pout effaces her irritability. Homework or Hanna? she asks herself, and that makes it easy. "Get in before I change my mind, goofball."

Hanna perks up immediately, and soon they're watching High School Musical 3 after a long bout of channel surfing.

"High school is _nothing _like that," Hanna gripes, too cross to touch the bowl of M&Ms between them. "Look at them with their stupidly happy, singing faces. Not a single unbeautiful thing comes out of those mouth holes."

Aria's half asleep, her face pressed soporifically against Hanna's bare shoulder, and she breathes a chuckle into the skin. "Aw, don't be so grumpy. You're the one who chose the movie. And to be fair, no one's high school experience is like that. Talk about unrealistic expectations for teenage girls…"

Hanna shakes her head irritably. "Well, no one's high school experience is like _ours_, either. Because of A, we're living a crossover between a soap opera and a slasher film! But it's a hell of a lot worse because I can't find the remote and shut the damn movie off." Hanna bites. Aria can feel her body lock up, hardening with unspoken and unresolved tension. The smaller girl sits up, debating whether or not to try to soften Hanna with an embrace.

Aria mutes the TV, but doesn't turn it off. Hanna looks over, surprised, and Aria reaches over to rub her forearms, trying to relax her. "Han, what's wrong? I haven't asked you that all night because I've been trying to give you some space, but I get the feeling you want me to."

"Maybe," Hanna admits quietly, refusing to look at Aria and staring at Troy and Gabriella waltzing in the rain, as if the pattern of their footsteps will unlock A's next cryptic message.

"Then tell me, honey. If you need someone to listen. If not, we can keep channel surfing," Aria offers, her hands trailing down and stilling to grasp the other girl's fingers. Hanna feels pinned in place by the warmth of Aria's gaze, the casual pet name and friendly contact only cuffing her tighter to what is sure to be a very bumpy ride. When she remembers how to breathe, she speaks plainly with no hint of remorse.

"I broke up with Caleb today." Even though the end of the relationship was all her doing, and although she doesn't regret how it played it, Hanna's shoulders deflate nonetheless.

"Oh, Hanna," Aria says, infusing more warmth into Hanna's body with a tightened grip. Hanna doesn't know how to interpret the look in her eyes – it's not pity or an imploration for further details. It looks almost like gratitude – like Aria's glad that Hanna trusted her enough to tell her this. Hanna stares down at their linked hands, tracing a thumb over the simple mauve of Aria's nails.

"He'd just changed so much after Ravenswood…and I'd changed too. It didn't work anymore."

She'd wanted the relationship to work, but rekindling the old flame had felt like trying to make things click with a completely different person. She'd been surprised to find that what she had been looking for and couldn't find in Travis was suddenly missing from Caleb too – and if she was honest with herself she'd known it from the time they'd kissed in that café. But she hadn't wanted to confront her lack of feeling then; she'd waited it out, waited for the passion to return. Now that the worst of her identity crisis and Caleb's haunting PTSD had passed, they were no longer anchored together by the strength of shared misery and alienation. Nor was the pain of past experiences enough to keep them together; they were too different now. It was time for things to end.

She doesn't explain any of this to Aria, but Aria nods in a way that communicates her understanding.

"What's wrong with me? Why can't I just not fuck up a relationship with a normal guy?" Hanna whispers, closing her eyes.

"Oh, Hanna," Aria repeats. "None of this is your fault. Things will get better, hon, and we'll all be here for you when they do." There's a wetness starting to dampen Hanna's eyelashes, even though her eyelids are still shut, and Aria wipes away the dew with a warm thumb, hand trailing down to rest on Hanna's cheek. "I wish things had worked out. But I'm here for you until Caleb comes to his senses and becomes the boyfriend you remember, or until you find someone better."

And suddenly, inexplicably, despite Aria's words, Hanna finds herself sobbing. Aria ends up pulling Hanna's head into her lap, as she did once before the second time Hanna and Caleb broke up, wishing she had someone to blame, someone to hunt down and harass just to alleviate Hanna's hurt. But she knows it's not Caleb's fault the two have finally become incompatible, and neither is it Hanna's.

Aria holds her until the tears run dry. Until Hanna gets hiccups that Aria soothes with a glass of water and a kiss to the forehead and until the ache in Hanna's heart has somehow settled into hers.

* * *

><p>Hanna ends up sleeping over, and in the morning she tells Aria she's totally ok to go to school. Hanna's chatty on the ride to school, gesticulating and telling stories that make Aria laugh so hard she's afraid she's going to cause an accident. But when Rosewood High actually swims into view, Hanna's cheer becomes a little more forced. It's a subtle change, but Aria still notices Hanna gesticulating less, like a conductor winding down a symphony. And the pauses between her thoughts become marginally longer, as if she has to struggle through emotion to find her words.<p>

On a whim, Aria holds Hanna's hand to calm her nerves when they walk into school, and she doesn't miss Hanna's sigh of relief. "Thank you," Hanna says quietly. The meekness doesn't suit her – it's like Spencer neglecting to correct an erroneous teacher – and so Aria just smiles back, trying to keep the sadness out of her eyes, and memorizes the feel of Hanna's fingers, wondering if she'll ever get used to how soft they are.

* * *

><p><strong>AN #2: I couldn't think up a stunning dress design, so I stole two of Hanna's existing outfits. Just pretend she's never worn them before and it all works out! They're linked here, just make sure you capitalize the links properly or they won't show:**

**goo dot gl/VgwKAJ**

**goo dot gl/1JZuyA**

**Criticism is welcome. Also, this was meant to be a oneshot, but it got a bit long, so stay tuned for part two.**


	2. dress made of waves lips like the sea

**A/N #1: Thanks to the kind guest reviewer!**

A month later, Hanna finds herself returning Aria's favor.

Aria hasn't shown up to school and isn't answering anyone's texts, so naturally her three friends have taken it upon themselves to make sure A hasn't gone and killed their smallest companion. At the lunch table Hanna had said as much with a cavalier jauntiness, outwardly laughing off the ridiculousness of the idea, but the three of them could only muster subdued laughs. They'd all seen too many murders to just brush off the thought. And sure, maybe the joke was in bad taste considering Mona's death was still fresh in their minds, but if Hanna didn't crack a joke at it, if she let these deaths drive her into solemnity it would drive her insane. She'd end up going home and locking herself in her room until A disappeared or, more likely, until she wasted away.

Hanna lets them into Aria's house with a spare key – Aria had given her a copy after so many late night sleepovers. She holds her breath and grips Spencer's and Emily's hands as she bravely walks inside. But there's no blood thrown over the wall in an unsightly red veil, no trademark 'signs of a struggle' that Hanna has become highly attuned to over A's reign of torment, no sense that anything's out of order.

But wait…

"Something's wrong," Hanna says quietly. She locks eyes with Emily, who gives her a small nod, and she knows Emily feels it too – the silence that doesn't sit right in the way the house settles, the faint smell of salt and sadness on the air, the way the thermostat's set to an uncomfortably cool temperature, like someone's gotten too warm from crying under the covers for too long and had to turn the temperature down. Hanna would know, she's done it before.

"What? How do you know?" Spencer grabs Hanna's arm, alarmed. For all her analytical skills, she still hasn't mastered the identification of such emotional nuance.

"Let's go see," Emily says instead, redirecting them to the stairs. They reach Aria's door quickly and Hanna knocks lightly. "Aria? Sweetie, are you in there? It's me, Hanna. And Em and Spence too. We're worried."

"Sweetie?" Spencer echoes, and Hanna doesn't even bother to glare at her. Emily shushes her, pressing her ear to the door.

"I don't hear anything," Emily reports. She tries the doorknob. "But it's locked."

On cue, Spencer pulls the bobby pin out of her hair. Hanna and Emily move aside to let her work. In a few seconds they're in.

It's the scariest thing Hanna's seen all year.

Aria's just laying on her side, curled up in blankets, eyes wide but lifeless and unblinking, face wet with drying tears.

Emily and Spencer get agitated, rushing to her side in a clamor. Aria doesn't move. Hanna just stands by the doorway.

"Aria?" Hanna says, and her voice cracks because she's so afraid that Aria might not answer. Her panic is only alleviated a little by the rise and fall of Aria's chest, because she's not dead but from the looks of it she might as well be.

Aria blinks up at her, but doesn't say anything. It's still more movement than Emily and Spencer have coaxed out of her. Hanna, Emily, and Spencer exchange a look, and then the latter two step aside, just as Hanna and Emily had stepped aside to let Spencer pick the lock. Hanna supposes she's spent so much time with Aria lately they've formed a closer bond. So she moves forward and kneels at the edge of Aria's bed. "Aria, what happened? What's wrong?"

Aria shudders in breaths for almost a minute before whispering four words: "He's still writing it." She shuts her eyes, gasping in her breaths now, her energy sapped. Hanna bites her tongue so hard she can feel the taste buds peeling, forcing herself to remain calm as she urges Aria to take deep breaths and reaches over awkwardly to rub her back.

Emily shoots up from her seat, her normally gentle features stark with rage.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Spencer asks, her similarly furious countenance temporarily lapsing into confusion.

"Where do you think? I'm not going to be okay until I see him bleed! I am _so _sick of him breaking Aria's heart and selling our life stories," Emily snarls, fists balled up in preparation for the coming fight. Angry Emily is a frightening Emily, and it's unfortunate that the other three girls have found a lot of reasons to fear her recently.

"Oh, not without me you're not," Hanna growls. "Sit your ass down and help me watch over Aria. Actually! You and Spencer need to get her some food and water. I'll watch over her. And we'll deal with that piece of scum later. But right now Aria needs us."

Maybe it's the fact that Spencer and Emily have rarely seen her so forceful, or maybe it's the fact that Aria is so unquestionably in need of help that they'd rather shut up and help Aria than fight Hanna on the command, but Spencer and Emily do as they're told without even the raise of an eyebrow.

Hanna never takes her eyes off Aria, and she smoothes a fallen strand of hair up and away from Aria's face. "Do you need anything else? Medicine? Another blanket? Your sketchbook?"

"No," Aria says, her words wispy and boneless. "I just need you."

Something about that statement makes Hanna hesitate on her next words. "Of course. And Spence and Em are here for you, too. They'll be back before you know it."

Aria stares at her, lips pursed and full with barely restrained confessions. She swallows, but the adrenaline still sticks in her throat as she watches Hanna wait for her to speak. Tired of the discomfort of stifled nervousness, she sits up on her elbow, leans forward, and presses those full lips to Hanna's.

To Hanna the kiss tastes like being knocked over in the surf for the first time, overwhelming and disorienting and new and stamped with salt. When they part, Hanna has never been more unsure of how to feel in her entire life, and her breath seems just as reluctant to make a decision, here one second and gone the next.

"Aria…you're hurt. You're confused." **_I'm_**_ confused_. "Is that why you kissed me?" Hanna focuses on the sound of Spencer and Emily putting together a meal downstairs, praying for them to get back sooner so she can go home and sort out her feelings in solitude.

"I…maybe. I don't know. I'm sorry," Aria says, collapsing back onto her side, looking ashen.

"Don't apologize," Hanna says, wanting to help Aria back up, but she keeps her hands at her side. She's not sure what else she expected to hear, but it wasn't that. It makes her feel almost disappointed, but she doesn't stop to dwell on why.

"Well…Is it ok if I ask you to stay? All of you?" Aria asks, and Hanna can't say no to that in good conscience. She nods, feeling guilty for having even thought of leaving.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course we'll stay."

* * *

><p>Hanna's been sneaking around and it's driving Aria crazy.<p>

Aria's kissed a lot of people she shouldn't have, but this one she regrets the most.

Sure, Hanna acts like everything's ok. She'd accepted Aria's multiple apologies graciously, laughing them off, and they'd ended up regaling each other with tales of all the people they'd impulsively kissed. But nothing else explains the fact that Aria hasn't seen Hanna for more than two hours in a row since Aria's first day back at school.

"Where's Hanna?" Aria asks her two other friends.

She swears she sees them exchange a heavy look before turning back to her. "I don't know," Emily says, focused on swirling the mashed potatoes on her tray around with her fork. Spencer touches her hand to Emily's, causing Emily to look up.

"Don't play with your comfort food," Spencer says in what sounds like a playful tone, and Emily rolls her eyes. "I get it Spence," she says, and they laugh in a way that suggests this is some kind of inside joke for them.

The exchange hurts Aria in ways she can't explain, and she slams the soda in her hand down onto her tray, before picking the whole tray up in a rather dramatic fashion.

"Aria!" Emily says, alarmed. "Are you leaving?"

"Yes, I'm leaving," Aria snaps. "I'm going to find Hanna and demand answers. Because you two are too busy flirting and keeping secrets to give me any, and I'm so sick of people lying to me," she spits, the stress of the past few weeks returning to her.

"You can't leave!" Emily blurts, standing and deciding to ignore Aria's accusations of something more than friendship going on between her and Spencer.

"Watch me," Aria seethes, spinning around, only to find Spencer standing before her with her arms crossed. When did that happen?

"Aria, we're not hiding anything from you. Least not a secret relationship," Spencer says. Aria gives her an incredulous look, one that's she mastered over the past few years. "Ok, we were hiding _something _from you, but it's small, really, and I'm about to tell you."

"Spence – " Emily starts, clearly disapproving of spilling whatever secret she's privy to. Spencer cuts her off.

"No, Aria's right. Too many secrets, no matter how small and ultimately benevolent, are going to tear us apart, and Aria's had more than enough lying in the past week alone." She looks to Aria for confirmation, and Aria only nods, a little chastened by Spencer's calm and rational agreement.

"All Hanna was told us was not to follow her or ask her where she's been disappearing to, and to make sure you don't follow her either. And she told us to keep an eye on you, and if you weren't ok, she told us to call her."

"God, she couldn't have told me that herself?" Aria said, instantly infuriated again. "And I'm not some fragile toddler that needs watching all the time. I can handle myself." She's so angry that she _almost _misses the second look Emily and Spencer exchange over her shoulder, and her face darkens. "What else are you guys hiding from me," she growls.

"N-nothing," Spencer says, a little frightened by Aria's anger. "Aria, do you want to – "

"No. I'm done here," Aria says. "I'm going to find Hanna, and neither of you are going to fucking stop me."

* * *

><p>But she can't find her.<p>

She thinks of all the times that Hanna's blown off their sleepovers or impromptu movie watching sessions recently, and thinks of how cold her bed has been lately without Hanna there to splay herself over it and laugh at the ridiculously posed models in magazines, and thinks of how everyone in her life she's somehow fallen for has done nothing but lie to her.

Aria doesn't bother returning to class. She drives home through tears and miraculously manages not to crash.

* * *

><p>She's so lost in angry thought that she doesn't see Hanna sitting on the front steps, cradling a large bag in her hands, until the key's in her hand and she's two paces away from unlocking the door.<p>

"Hey," Hanna says uncertainly, looking up at her, and Aria can't decide whether or not to scare her away with a snide comment or return the greeting. And she's so, so angry, because even though Hanna's made her so furious she can barely stopper her tears, Aria still would love nothing more than to grab her by the elbow, pull her up, and kiss her.

She settles for staring down at Hanna, waiting for her to speak.

Hanna remains sitting, rather than standing and making Aria look up at her. "Emily texted me. She told me what went down at lunch. She and Spence wanted to come, too, but I told them I'd handle it."

Aria _glowers_, and Hanna backs up. "Not – not that you're a situation that needs to be handled. I just…ugh, I'm not good at this. Just take this. Please open it first, at least, before you decide to shove it up my ass." She withdraws a large and plain cardboard box. "Sorry, I didn't have time to wrap it, and it's not as good as I'd hoped it'd be, but I figured this was the best time to give it to you, even if it meant the thing was a little rushed."

Aria takes the package, but she doesn't spare it a second glance. "And what? You think you can buy your way out of this? I'm not that materialistic, Hanna! I'm not – " She takes a deep breath, willing herself not to cry, and Hanna darts up, trying to steady her. Aria stumbles backward sharply when Hanna's fingers brush against hers, stunned by how much she relishes the contact.

"Do you remember what I said once, about us? I told you I can handle the universe throwing me curveballs, but not when they start coming from my best friend. So why does it feel like both of these are happening again? Happening now?"

"You're not the only one who's felt like that recently!" Hanna blurts, and Aria drops her eyes, ashamed, crying harder, because she knows Hanna's talking about that time Aria accused her of always being the problem instead of helping her out of her temporary addiction. "Fuck," Hanna sighs, looking instantly remorseful and extremely frustrated. "I didn't mean – I – "

"I know, and I'm sorry, and I'll never stop feeling like I have to spend the rest of my life making that up to you," Aria sobs. "I missed the signs twice, Hanna. I missed your identity crisis two times. Maybe I just didn't get it, because you've always seemed so perfect to me, and I didn't understand how you could ever see yourself as anything otherwise. But I'm still just an awful friend, and I don't deserve your friendship. I get it. I get why you don't want to look me in the eye anymore, and you can take your present back, I don't need it," she rambles, thrusting the box back into Hanna's hands.

Hanna sighs, pained by Aria's hurt. "Aria…I'm not perfect, but I've already forgiven you for both of those things. I don't know why I said that. Unresolved issues, I guess. I just…we can both be really shitty friends sometimes, yeah, but our friendship is stronger than any of those issues. Because in the end, I know you're here for me. And you might not see it right now, but I'll always be here for you too. And as for the present and the sneaking around…I can explain. When you're ready."

Aria hiccups, crisis mostly averted. "You're so great. I'm sorry," she repeats. It seems to be the only thing she can say these days.

"It's ok," Hanna smiles. "Fighting sucks. Come on, let's get you cleaned up." She tucks the package back into her bag and leads Aria upstairs.

Aria stares at herself in the mirror until she's mostly forgotten the memory of Hanna's fingers against hers.

Once Aria has pulled herself together, they both sit in Aria's bed and watch three episodes of Gossip Girl before Hanna has to leave.

Aria's leaning on the wall with her back to it and she's watching Hanna struggle into her sandals in front of her. She's managed to force one on, and she's hopping around on her right foot as she tries to force the left sandal on.

"These must have been designed by someone at Radley," Hanna gripes. "They're cute as hell, but they're also straitjackets for your feet. Ahh!" Hanna yelps, as she loses her balance and falls onto Aria, arms stretched out, just as Aria catches her. The way Aria catches her leaves little to no space between their faces, but the air is thick between them as Hanna catches her breath and refuses to move.

Hanna wets her lips and Aria nearly chokes. Should she take that as a cue to kiss her? She leans forward just as the back door slams open.

Hanna's off her in a flash, smiling as if nothing's happened. "Is that Mike?"

Aria nods dumbly.

"Tell him I said hey, but I've got to go," Hanna says, finally shrugging the other shoe on. "I'll see you later."

And she's gone.

Aria makes her way upstairs and ignores the unopened package left in the corner of her room.

* * *

><p>10 minutes after she's woken up, Hanna opens her door to incessant knocking. "I'm up! I'm – Aria? I thought you were the cops. Or the IRS. Or hell, the FBI. What's with all the knocking?"<p>

"I opened it," Aria says, an elated grin stretching her face. She throws her arms around Hanna, crushing her in a hug the blonde would have expected from a person twice Aria's size. "How did you do it?"

When Aria pulls away, Hanna's beaming too. "The night we came over to check on you, I went looking for your sketchbook and found it in the trash, along with a page ripped out and torn up that was labeled _Winter Ball_. I guessed you were designing a dress for yourself. I had Spencer and Emily help me piece the designs back together, and I swore them to secrecy…sorry about that, but I wanted it to be a surprise. And making a dress takes a lot of time," Hanna admits. "And I didn't know if I could get it done in time before the winter ball, but I remembered how you spent all your lunchtime in the library, and your mom let me stay in her room. And I just – I just – "

Aria puts a finger to her lips. "Han, you're rambling, but it's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me. I love it. I love _you_," she says, crushing Hanna in a hug the blonde would have expected from a person twice Aria's size.

Hanna chuckles. "I love you too. All three feet of you. That's why I made the dress for you. It was too good to be thrown away like that."

This time, when Aria pulls back to look at Hanna, she finds it really, really difficult not to kiss the taller girl. They stand there, arms around each other, just grinning. Aria wonders if Hanna also feels the tension building silently between them.

Aria bites her lip shyly, considering pulling away from the situation, and something changes in Hanna's eyes.

"Screw it," Hanna breathes, and catches Aria in an earnest kiss.

To Aria the kiss feels like falling asleep in a lover's arms, comforting and safe and promising relief and reminiscent of mint toothpaste.

"Did you just wake up? You just brushed your teeth, didn't you?" Aria murmurs, high on the scent of Hanna's body wash.

"Yeah, I did. I'm sure my bedhead hair is super sexy," Hanna chuckles.

"I don't know what's so funny, because I definitely agree," Aria says, and adds with a smirk, "Let's go upstairs and you can teach me some…hairstyling tips."

* * *

><p>As expected, Hanna reveals their relationship with a pair of customized T-shirts and a hundred invitations to her coming out party, the likes of which has both of them bringing leftover rainbow cupcakes to lunch for two weeks. Aria doesn't mind. Because when she kisses her girlfriend, Hanna always tastes as sweet as Aria's imagined (in private dreams and stolen fantasies that left Aria with a blush and a special kind of ache, but now it's a kind of ache that Hanna can take care of). And Hanna never tires of licking stray frosting off Aria's lip so lasciviously that even an unseeing Jenna feels uncomfortable being in the general vicinity.<p>

* * *

><p>They're at the winter ball, and after pulling quite a few favors and recruiting assistance from her girlfriend, Aria manages to finish dresses for the rest of her friends, presenting them in the presence of their dance dates. "We'll match!" she tells them.<p>

Spencer gets so excited she practically proposes, making a wheelchair-bound Toby chuckle into his coffee. Emily's level of admiration is similarly off the charts, so much that Paige and Hanna start to bond over their envy and side-eyes. As for Hanna, she manages to keep her appreciation at a civil level considering they're in company, but after Hanna drives her home she shows Aria how thankful she _really_ is.

"Did I mention you look gorgeous in that dress? I can't think of anyone else who would make it look sexier," Hanna whispers, honest appreciation making the quirk of her voice breathy, and she chooses that moment to dip her date to the slow song. When Aria comes back up, her cheeks are red and her eyes are shining, and Hanna's pretty sure it's not because the blood's rushed to her head after that dance move.

"Mmm, I can. I designed it to look best on your bedroom floor," Aria smirks.

"Oh yeah? I'll believe it when I see it."

They laugh even as Spencer stops by to tell them they're obnoxiously sweet and as Emily smacks her in the shoulder for it. Aria smiles as she looks over at her friends; they're all dancing in outfits straight out of a fairytale. But Hanna's ultimately proved to be the princess she's always drawn up dresses for, and that couldn't make Aria happier.

* * *

><p><strong>AN #2: The winter ball dresses are from the promos; remember to capitalize in all the right places if you want to check them out:**

**goo dot gl / sCx30b**

**Sorry if it's OOC or not true to canon; I may be missing some details. I've watched seasons 1, 2, and 5 in their entirety, and I'm still catching up, so I haven't watched half of season 3 and most of season 4. But I'm getting there! Also, I obviously don't really know how dressmaking works or how long it takes, so sorry for inaccuracies. Criticism still welcome!**


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